Lively musical comedy 'Bounce!' offers life lessons

When you are a red rubber ball, it's easy to get bored. After all, what is there to do but bounce around all day?

In the fantastical land of Martin City Melodrama at the Metcalf South Shopping Center, one has options. A ball gets to be much more than just a ball in their most recent musical comedy, "Bounce!"

This screwball offering is from Martin City Jr., the children's theater arm of the popular performing troupe.

Written and directed by Jeanne Beechwood with original tunes by Jon Copeland, "Bounce!" is a 45-minute lark that teaches the theater's youngest demographic group about basic geometric shapes while encouraging them to overcome their fears and explore life's many options.

In the "Land of the Round," there are merely 5,437 ways to spend your time. Our hero, a red rubber ball, decides to diversify.

He transforms himself into a number of other round objects to overcome boredom that always seems to eventually set in.

At first, he tries life as a snowball, enjoying frigid new options. After losing patience with the icy life, he becomes an insect-repelling superhero, Mighty Mothball.

Then he tries a sweeter alternative, life as a gumball. After tiring of that, he becomes a prognosticating crystal ball.

Four actors, Beechwood, Sarah Menez, Brett Baker and Amanda Riley, help the ball re-enact the story with the backstage aid of Elizabeth McManus. They perform six original tunes that help drive the simple storyline.

They wrap up the show with a game show, "Name That Shape," an interactive activity involving audience members.

Objects like ice cream cones and houses are formed out of basic geometric shapes like squares, triangles and circles. Kids guess what the items are and point out the various shapes that they are comprised of.

Beechwood and company create a broad and lively atmosphere, mindful of their audience's short attention span. Ellen Beechwood's costumes and Jana Soper's sets are appropriately bright with eye-catching primary colors.

"Bounce!" runs through July 31 at the Martin City at Metcalf Theatre, 9601 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park. For tickets, call 642-7576.

THEATER NOTES

Kansas City's fifth annual Fringe Festival takes place July 19-26, and the festivities include several offbeat theatrical offerings. Among them is "The Miniature Housewife," conceived and performed by Danielle Conover and Dan Griffiths.

"Silent Poetry" is a mime tribute inspired by the work of Marcel Marceau. The performers are Kirsten Stephens and Dean Hatton.

Both of these shows can be seen at the Just Off Broadway Theatre, 3051 Central in Penn Valley Park, Kansas City, Mo. Information is available at www.kcfringe.org or at www.byrdproductions.org.

The Kansas City Mystery Train, an interactive whodunit dinner theater, is offering audiences something a bit different.

"Drawn to Murder" features "animated" characters aboard a "toon" train. Janelle Ratzlaff, Paula Acconcia and Erik Pratt play these comic characters come to life.

The show runs through Aug. 22 at various locations. Complete information can be found at www.kcmysterytrain.com or by calling (816) 813-9654.

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